Why I Like Ariana Grande Now

All I knew about Ariana Grande was that she was the chick who had one hair style, a larger than life voice that resembled Mariah Carey, and an overplayed radio song, “Problem” featuring Iggy Azalea.

Oh and she caused several feuds on Twitter, licked a donut at a shop and wouldn’t pay for it then proceeded to say, “I hate Americans. I hate America,” when confronted…all in a single week.

I pinned her as another pop star drama queen until I saw her on Saturday Night Live. There is substance, talent and humor behind the small woman, or rather, this Dangerous Woman.

She is releasing her third studio album on May 20th called Dangerous Woman.

There have been two singles released so far, and she performed both songs “Dangerous Woman” and “Be Alright” on the SNL stage. A track list has not been published for the album, and it’s very hush hush who will be featured on it.

The specific skit that had America laughing and impressed, myself included, was where Ariana Grande impersonated other singers, such as Britney Spears, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. It was uncanny how well she could imitate the voices of other artist while staying composed.

There was a moment in bad taste when Ariana was impersonating Rihanna’s “Work,” which fans from both side have speculated it was purposely done by Ariana because of a past time when Rihanna laughed at Ariana performing at the iHeart Radio Music Award show. Or maybe Ariana was attempting comedic reaches, either way it achieved laughter from the audience.

Overall, the skit reached massive views, kept us entertained and anyone who can get remotely close to Whitney Houston’s vocals is praise worthy.

It’s not surprising how well Ariana did on SNL–after all, she’s no stranger to show business. She’s been on Broadway and Nickelodeon. She walks the path of similar artists before her like SNL cast member Kenan Thompson, Miranda Cosgrove, Kylie Minogue, and others–so what makes her any different?

I’ll say this, she’s actually talented and likable on screen.

Sure, I’m two studio albums and 10 years behind on the Ariana Grande bandwagon, but it’s only because she’s finally showing the likability we never knew existed because of the bombarding media releases about her.

She doesn’t overact or depend on other actors on stage to back her up on her performance. Ariana has experience in the acting and music career.

She’s no doubt following the calculated dance steps most child starts from Nickelodeon and Disney, but she’s doing it dangerously with wit.